This is a good article describing
how you can make the case against the war in
Iran. I can't believe this even needs to be
said. I mean, for Christ's sake, does no one
have any sense anymore in the states? Can no one
stop the crazies? It's unreal to me.

Excerpt:

We have four days to head off a war with Iran.
That's four days to compile, distill, and
disseminate information that will undercut
corporate media collusion with a desperate Bush
administration to open a third front in Bush's
wars. We are at a disadvantage, since we are up
against professionals with multi-million-dollar
budgets. We have an advantage in that their message
is predictable and aimed at idiots and cowards.

So, instead of killing 600,000 people, what else
could the U.S. do with the money? A lot it turns out.
30% of American's energy usage could have been
converted to renewable sources, they could have
gotten universal health care, or a lot of other
things. This article lays it out quite
well. I can't imagine that the amount of oil
they get from this war could possibly be worth
more than a lifetime of renewable energy. And it
certainly isn't worth the cost in human lives.

It's always good to hear it from the top, and this
guy is the head accountant for the whole country. It
says a lot that he's decided to spend his time
educating the people rather than dealing with the
current administration. Like talking to a brick wall
I tell 'ya.

High levels of organic atheism are strongly
correlated with high levels of societal health,
such as low homicide rates, low poverty rates, low
infant mortality rates, and low illiteracy rates,
as well as high levels of educational attainment,
per capita income, and gender equality. Most
nations characterized by high degrees of individual
and societal security have the highest rates of
organic atheism, and conversely, nations
characterized by low degrees of individual and
societal security have the lowest rates of organic
atheism. In some societies, particularly Europe,
atheism is growing. However, throughout much of the
world – particularly nations with high birth rates
– atheism is barely discernible.

In the spring of 1994, the Tucker family received
lengthy prison sentences -- 10 years for Steve, 16
years for his older brother Gary, and 10 years for
his brother's wife, Joanne -- without possibility of
parole, for the curiously worded federal crime of
"conspiracy to manufacture marijuana."

Yet federal prosecutors never charged them with
buying, selling, growing, transporting, smoking or
even possessing marijuana. An 18-month DEA
investigation had failed to turn up direct evidence
connecting the Tuckers to even a single joint.

Instead, they were locked away for selling the lamps,
fertilizer and gardening hardware from the small
hydroponic supply shop Gary operated on Buford
Highway that enabled their customers to grow pot.

Unconstitutional government has created a war
crisis, a financial crisis, a dollar crisis, and a
freedom crisis. But we don’t have to take it. We
don't have to passively accept more dead soldiers,
a lower standard of living, rising prices, a
national ID, eavesdropping on our emails and phone
calls, and all the rest.We can return to first
principles, and build the brightest, most brilliant
future any people on earth has ever aspired to.

M1 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of
currency held by the public, travelers checks, demand
deposits and other checkable deposits including NOW
(negotiable order of withdrawal) and ATS (automatic
transfer service) account balances and share draft
account balances at credit unions.

M2 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of
M1, certain overnight repurchase agreements and
certain overnight Eurodollars, savings deposits
(including money market deposit accounts), time
deposits in amounts of less than $100,000 and
balances in money market mutual funds (other than
those restricted to institutional investors).

M3 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of
M2, time deposits of $100,000 or more at all
depository institutions, term repurchase agreements
in amounts of $100,000 or more, certain term
Eurodollars and balances in money market mutual funds
restricted to institutional investors.

My friend Adam has launched a really cool new travel
website, Vibe Agent which specializes in
finding the perfect hotel based on your
lifestyle needs. It's very slick and
interactive, and it makes this chore actually
enjoyable. And I'm not just saying that. I was
just looking for hotels for a holiday and
realized how crap all the other options were. He
needs a bit more content, but there's a lot
being added every day, and since it's only been
in beta for a couple months, you can't ask too
much. If anyone wants an invite, let me know.

The immediate triggers are being described quite
well: the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage
market; the vulnerability of the rest of the economy
to the subprime undertow, due to the “efficiency” of
the markets in spreading risk; the worldwide
overextension of cheap credit; the failure of large
institutional investors and Wall Street brokerages to
behave responsibly; and the long-term effects of the
U.S. trade and fiscal deficits which are now coming
home to roost.

Amazingly, some commentators have been asking “if the
monetary crisis will affect the producing economy,”
and whether a recession lies ahead. In reality, the
U.S. producing economy has been in a recession for
the last year. This is shown most clearly by the
decline in M1, the portion of the money supply
immediately available to people for making purchases.